Team Members: Emily Carter Hannah Newcombe* Kirstie Loh Liz Lynch
Hypothesis: There is significant selection acting on the populations in different environments of the same altitude
We would expect to see a significant difference in the frequency of the alleles in the different environments, consistently within each environment, suggesting that the differences in allele frequencies are due to selection rather than gene flow or genetic drift.
NullHypothesis: There is no significant selection acting on the populations in different environments of the same altitude
We would expect to see no significant difference in the frequency of the alleles in different environments. Any differences seen would not be consistent within the same environment suggesting genetic drift rather than selection would be acting on the populations.
Our design: We will choose six sites at the same altitude, as close to in a straight line as possible We will collect three samples in grassland and three in bushes along this line We will collect samples of the populations at each site, ensuring the boundaries of each site are at least 20m apart to eliminate gene flow. We will be slightly bias in our collection as we will collect in higher density areas to ensure enough snails are collected within each population.
Strengths: In this design, variables have been reduced as much as possible, increasing the internal validity of our study. For example, altitude level and precautions to limit the likelihood of gene flow between different habitat groups have been taken. Moreover, sampling from only two habitat types increases the number of times we can replicate sampling from each category within our study, adding credibility to the data collected.
Weaknesses: We are not including woodland or considering all elevations, therefore we will be lacking data for these variables. However, with the time and resources available, we decided that this was a reasonable sacrifice.
Team Members:
Emily Carter
Hannah Newcombe*
Kirstie Loh
Liz Lynch
Hypothesis:
There is significant selection acting on the populations in different environments of the same altitude
We would expect to see a significant difference in the frequency of the alleles in the different environments, consistently within each environment, suggesting that the differences in allele frequencies are due to selection rather than gene flow or genetic drift.
Null Hypothesis:
There is no significant selection acting on the populations in different environments of the same altitude
We would expect to see no significant difference in the frequency of the alleles in different environments. Any differences seen would not be consistent within the same environment suggesting genetic drift rather than selection would be acting on the populations.
Our design:
We will choose six sites at the same altitude, as close to in a straight line as possible
We will collect three samples in grassland and three in bushes along this line
We will collect samples of the populations at each site, ensuring the boundaries of each site are at least 20m apart to eliminate gene flow.
We will be slightly bias in our collection as we will collect in higher density areas to ensure enough snails are collected within each population.
Strengths:
In this design, variables have been reduced as much as possible, increasing the internal validity of our study. For example, altitude level and precautions to limit the likelihood of gene flow between different habitat groups have been taken. Moreover, sampling from only two habitat types increases the number of times we can replicate sampling from each category within our study, adding credibility to the data collected.
Weaknesses:
We are not including woodland or considering all elevations, therefore we will be lacking data for these variables. However, with the time and resources available, we decided that this was a reasonable sacrifice.